And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in the country thanks in part to a strong economy and tons of entertainment, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine in Akron. Some neighborhoods aren’t as great as others.

So the question arises, which Akron neighborhoods are the worst, and which are the best?

Today, we’ll use science and data to determine which Akron hoods need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Akron area if you will. Realistically, you can’t expect all the neighborhoods to be amazing, although Northwest Akron ranks way above the rest.

We examined 21 of Akron’s neighborhoods to find out the worst places to live. These places don’t quite measure up to Akron’s reputation.

How we determined the worst Akron hoods

To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what places have the least amount of those things. We threw the following criteria into this analysis in order to get the best, most complete results possible. We used this set of criteria for each neighborhood in Akron:

High unemployment (Less jobs)

Low median income (Less pay)

Low population density (No things to do)

Low home values (No one’s willing to pay to live here)

High crime (Estimated)

Then, we ranked each neighborhood in Akron for each of these criteria from worst to best.

Next, we averaged the individual rankings for each criteria into a ‘Worst Score’.

The neighborhood with the lowest ‘Worst Score’ ranks as the worst neighborhood of Akron.

Read on below to learn more about these terrible places around Akron to live. Or skip to the end to see the list of all 21 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.

This list is a scientific analysis based on real data and is completely unbiased. Hold on to your pants.

1. Middlebury

Population: 5,846Median Income: $23,420Median Home Value: $42,856

2. Summit Lake

Population: 3,754Median Income: $18,094Median Home Value: $55,200

3. East Akron

Population: 11,313Median Income: $26,747Median Home Value: $52,200

4. Elizabeth Park Valley

Population: 3,630Median Income: $31,029Median Home Value: $54,225

5. Downtown

Population: 4,813Median Income: $12,640Median Home Value: $55,800

6. University Of Ohio Akron

Population: 8,025Median Income: $17,596Median Home Value: $25,429

7. Lane-Wooster

Population: 6,215Median Income: $19,878Median Home Value: $58,525

8. Rolling Acres

Population: 2,817Median Income: $38,350Median Home Value: $68,750

9. South Akron

Population: 6,343Median Income: $25,366Median Home Value: $60,389

10. Chapel Hill

Population: 6,553Median Income: $32,085Median Home Value: $80,320

The ‘hoods around Akron that are really hoods

Well there you have it — the worst of the neighborhoods in Akron with Middlebury landing at the bottom of the pack.

As we mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Akron aren’t all bad. Northwest Akron takes the cake as the best place to live in Akron.